A Better Mosquito Repellent on the Horizon

May 27, 2016

You're probably familiar with mosquito repellents that contain concentrations of DEET or Picaridin. They're the most common on the market. But, scientists have recently created a different chemical combination that works even better shielding you against mosquito bites than the already impressive DEET. The way DEET products, and most other mosquito repellents, work in order to repel insects is that they make a human smell bad or unappealing to insects such as mosquitos. However, this new chemical combination actually makes you invisible to the insects. Your scent is totally masked, so the insects can't even detect your presence. It's as if you are wearing an invisibility cloak that only works on nasty flying pests. The blend of chemicals are ones that we already have in our bodies in low concentrations, and they seem to have an incredible ability to totally mask our scent from mosquitos. Scientists tested the formula by having people stick their hands or arms into a box full of mosquitos. When the chemical compound was sprayed into the box beforehand, the mosquitos completely avoided the skin of the subjects. However, a great deal more testing needs to be done before the repellent will be available for commercial use. What do you think of this insect repellent that makes you invisible to mosquitos? How could this change the way we live around mosquitos?